Question

Neil De Grasse Tyson said, "The good thing about science is that it works whether you believe in it or not." Describe two aspects of science and the scientific method that support this statement.

Answer 1

'The good thing about science is that it works whether you believe in it or not'

There are several instances which could be taken as an example of to prove that this statement hold very true for science.

1. One does not necessarily have to believe in gravity to see things fall or getting dragged to the Earth, as whether one believes it or not, an apple or for that matter any other thing would get attracted to the Earth irrespective of anyone's belief. An apple or a chair or a book would still fall on the ground from any height due to mutual attraction between the book and the Earth.

2. Similarly, one does not necessarily have to believe in the laws of themodynamics to establish that these laws hold true for a cup of coffee to be cooled. Of three identically shaped cups of coffee are taken, but one made of a metal, another of a ceramic and the third one of glass, then the coffee in the metal container would cool down the fastest, followed by the glass and then the ceramic. This is ruled by the laws of thermodynamics. The sequence of cooling down of coffee in these three different types of containers would not be affected or would not be changed if someone believed in something else or precisly, did not believe in the laws of science.